You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Jason Mackey's Pirates chat: 04.27.22
powered byJotCast
Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page
Jason Mackey
12:21
Hi Steven. I think "closing" is an antiquated term. It doesn't "have" to exist. You can do what the Pirates are doing by playing leverage. I also think there's value in having your best reliever pitch the ninth, the music to blare, the place to get into it, etc. Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman became what they did for a reason. Maybe the Pirates get there with Bednar. But for now, I think the usage is smart.
Ben
12:21
Hey Jason! Is there any update on how Bubba Chandler is doing as a two way player? What about the other guys from the draft class last year such as Solomento, White Jr, Kellington, and Bishop?  Thanks!
Jason Mackey
12:22
Not a ton I can share, Ben. Sorry. Been consumed with the big club lately. They're in rookie ball.
Frank
12:22
Whos gonna be the first player traded?
Jason Mackey
12:23
I'll go Gamel, if for no other than they could be wanting to turn over playing time in the OF to younger players, and I think he has a lot of value on a contending club.
Steve
12:23
When do you think we will see Mason Martin with the big league squad? Has been crushing it in Triple A
Jason Mackey
12:23
I think they need to, and will, give Yoshi more runway. Agree, Mason has been awesome. But I think you probably want to see a larger sample to make a move like that. On both ends.
Andrew
12:23
I know it’s early, but is there any speculation about who the pirates are looking at taking with the 4th pick of the draft this year?
Jason Mackey
12:24
Not that I've heard. Again, it's early. And there's a lot that could change. This time last year they were taking Kumar Rocker, then Jack Leiter, then Marcelo Mayer. Stuff changes.
Jeff
12:24
Besides Contreras, is there anyone that would be able to give mlb club some average starter innings better than what we have seen?
Jason Mackey
12:25
Maybe if you want to jump Mike Burrows or Carmen Mlodzinski. Quinn Priester (oblique) has been out. Mentioned earlier Alldred, Eickhoff and Bolton. They intrigue me. Osvaldo Bido? May be stretching thin. Same with Austin Brice.
Zach
12:25
Considering they are prob at least still a year away from adding to the team, who are some names that could be traded this year?
Jason Mackey
12:26
If they perform, I could see Roberto Perez, Yoshi Tsutsugo, Kevin Newman, Chris Stratton, Heath Hembree, Daniel Vogelbach, Ben Gamel, Jose Quintana and probably others fall into this category. Again, if they perform.
Logan
12:26
If you had to guess, what is the starting opening day lineup in 2024
Jason Mackey
12:27
What happened to 2023?
Let's give a shot, though. We're not doing batting order. Just around the diamond.
12:31
C Davis, 3B Hayes, SS Peguero, 2B Gonzales, 1B Martin, LF Swaggerty, CF Reynolds, RF Cruz, DH Smith-Njigba. Also, this exercise is pretty much pointless because what do you do with Marcano, Suwinski, Mitchell, Triolo, Fraizer and Bae. So much can and will happen. It's impossible to predict, which is why I hate questions like this. No offense, Logan. They're just impossible to answer because you can't predict the future, sadly.
Jeff
12:31
would the Pirates fire Marin in season?
Jason Mackey
12:32
I doubt it given his relationship with Shelton. It's also hard because Oscar does have a lot to do with pitcher usage beyond the starter. It's not just Meccage. So you can't say, "Hey, you think because the starters stink, and the bullpen guys ... well, that's Meccage." It's not that black and white.
Marc
12:32
Jason, great job with the coverage so far this year. Do you foresee the Pirates shifting the bulk relievers with the starters depending on effectivenss? With Crowe and Peters pitching so effectively, I wonder if they could go 5 IP and the team could try Thompson or Wilson, who have been mediocre, in the bulk role.
Jason Mackey
12:33
Thanks, Marc. I think you could see some of that, yes. We may already be seeing it today with Wilson/Peters, although I suspect it's more than performance. But, yeah. I don't think the Pirates will just allow guys to outright stink. They'll make changes. And the hybrid guys would make sense.
TC
12:34
Why would piggyback starts be an option when most of the options to use include the pitchers who can’t perform as it is?
Jason Mackey
12:34
Because you're theoretically asking them to do less. It's why the hybrid guys have thrived. Few times seeing a lineup means you can use all your weapons. Maybe that's only two. OK, that works one time through then guys adjust. It's why some guys make better relievers than starters.
Ryan
12:34
Good afternoon Jason what do you think about Peters Crowe and Bednar so far this season i think they have done a good job let’s go Bucs
Jason Mackey
12:35
I agree with you. They've been fantastic. Best pitchers on the team. Love Bednar's heat. All three have confidence. Peters and Crowe have taken to their roles. Not enough nice things to say, honestly.
Ryan
12:35
Forgot about Hayes he’s been having a good season so far hitting and fielding
Jason Mackey
12:35
For sure. I'm not gonna disagree with you.
Justin
12:35
If Alford clears DFA limbo, do you think he'd accept the assignment to AAA?  I gotta think that PIT has one of the better AAA situations around, with a city and ballpark like Indianapolis. Do you think this is something that a tweener guy like Alford would value?
Jason Mackey
12:36
I think the city and ballpark would matter a lot less to Alford than playing time. And I'm not sure that would work. The Pirates need to play 40-man guys such as Smith-Njigba and Swaggerty, as well as Cal Mitchell. Suwinski was in AA, Marcano will get reps out there. Cruz, too. It could be very crowded for Alford.
DJ
12:37
Hi Jason, thanks for doing these. Do you have any read on why Castillo seems to get such irregular opportunities? It seems like we want to give VanMeter a lot of run, but off the top of my head, Castillo has only started in back to back games once. VanMeter’s upside seems to be a flexible but so-so defender who can give some lefty pop,  but I have to squint pretty hard to see that. Early in the season, I thought Shelton was just trying to rotate guys regularly, and I know he’s not forthcoming about their decision process, but doesn’t it seem strange that we have plenty of opportunity and it’s not going to a guy who clearly took some steps forward last year and earned his shot this spring? Guess it just seems like a waste to me when put up against another BC attempt to find a 27 year old who hasn’t caught on elsewhere.
Jason Mackey
12:39
I don't get playing VanMeter as much as they have, believe me. But I also don't see Castillo -- who's hitting .262 with a .636 OPS -- as some egregious snub. I'm not sure any of them provide an answer I'd feel truly good about. VanMeter has done some things in the past and started to show signs of that. I'm fine with rotating and seeing if someone wants to take charge.
Travis
12:39
With Martin and Mitchell raking at AAA and not really typical targets for service time manipulation, do we see them up soon?
Jason Mackey
12:39
I think we need to give it a little more runway.
Travis
12:39
Any idea on how long they want to "stretch out" Contreras before he's back up and in the rotation?
Jason Mackey
12:40
Yeah, for about as long as it takes to ensure he doesn't reach a full year of major league service time in '22. Then he should be nice and stretched out. (I don't have the exact date handy at the moment.)
Give Up
12:40
Time to unload Mitch Keller ? Why is this franchise incapable of producing a quality pitcher in its system that they draft in early rounds ? The last dominant pitcher they produced was Drabek and he spent most of his time in the Yankees system (I think. Can't remember). Is there some sort of organizational philosophy that has persisted all these years, no matter who was in charge, who the management was that just prevents them from producing quality pitchers ? Benson stunk, Cole wasn't dominant, Glascow was lousy, Taillion was lousy and now Keller
Jason Mackey
12:41
Why are we in such a hurry to "unload" Keller? Do they get draft picks or something for doing this by a certain date? Not that I'm aware of. In any case anyone has missed it, the whole rotation stinks. Why is it all Keller's fault? Just let him throw. He's been better. I don't get the NEED to do something here.
Jeff
12:41
Speaking of attendance, with the report a few weeks ago in PG that payroll is dependent on it… would you say we are in for more years of bottom 3 payroll
Jason Mackey
12:42
We're through just seven of 41 home dates. I don't think it would be responsible to make a judgement on how attendance will affect anything at this point.
DJ
12:42
I don’t get why people are trying to pick apart the bullpen— reads like a case of fans watching box scores instead of games. My early sense is that the issue could potentially be twofold: starters failing to give 5-6 a chunk of the time, and then not quite enough after Crowe and Peters to cover the innings. I haven’t seen anyone comment on this, but the Pirates might be onto something in terms of Crowe and Peters being former starters who should be able to throw 110 innings or so in mid-relief.
Connecting…